For Speedy Internet , ISRO to Launch 3 satellites

May 18 , Thursday : To amplify Internet speed Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to launch three communication satellites — GSAT-19, GSAT-11 and GSAT-20 — in upcoming 18 months across the country.

India’s Communication system will set new high with the launch of new satellites.

In an interview with the Indian Express, Tapan Misra, director of Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre (SAC), said The next big launch will be GSAT-19 in June… With this launch, we will begin a new age of communication satellites. It is also the beginning of high-throughput satellites (in India),”

“You are already witnessing a change in the communication technology where voice and video communications are taking place through Internet. With future launches, television will be viewed through Internet using wireless Technology,” he added.

In the contemporary world , where internet has become quintessential , these new communication satellites will be emerged as gamechanger by providing faster, smoother and cheaper Internet connectivity.

The Congress on Saturday described the PNB scam a “complete failure of regulatory mechanism and fraud detection ability of the banking sector” and demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his silence on India’s “biggest bank scam”.

“The Congress calls upon the Prime Minister to apprise the nation of complete facts about the biggest bank scam instead of remaining a silent spectator,” the party’s newly formed Steering Committee said in a statement after its first meeting here.

The meeting was chaired by Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Beside him, former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram and other senior party leaders were present.

The statement said that “it must be brought out as to how the entire banking system was duped through Letters of Understanding (LoUs) under the watch of the Modi government and why were all authorities, including the Finance Ministry, FIU, SFIO, ED, CBI and others found wanting in preventing loss to public exchequer?”

The opposition party demanded that the Prime Minister also tell the nation as to how did a fraud of this magnitude escape the eyes of all auditors and investigators conducting statutory, internal and concurrent audit and even the RBI’s own audit.

“The Prime Minister must tell the nation the reasons for the failure of the fraud detection ability of the entire banking sector and the Finance Ministry,” it said.

Alleging that the matter was notified to the Prime Minister’s Office in May 2015, the party said: “The Prime Minister must also share with the nation the action taken by the PMO and other government agencies/departments on complaints made about the impending bank scam as early as on May 7, 2015, and on numerous occasions thereafter.”

“The manner in which thousands of crores of public money was looted with impunity and the entire risk management system failed completely tell their own story of giving of favours and grant of protection. The truth is that the bank scam has unveiled the culture of crony capitalism that has thrived and flourished under the watch of Modi government,” the Congress said.

Slamming the government for its alleged failure in bringing back black money stashed abroad, the party said: “Over the last 45 months, the BJP-led government has shown zero action and zero results on bringing back black money stashed abroad, as was promised by the Prime Minister, or taking action against the accused in multiple corruption scams.

“Zero tolerance for corruption has become zero tolerance for accountability on corruption,” it said.

The party said people’s money deposited in government banks had become susceptible to repeated frauds that had occurred under the Modi government’s watch.

“Nearly Rs 6,000-crore Bank of Baroda fraud was a case in point. The tragedy is that swindlers of public funds have left India freely as the BJP-led government and its agencies are acting as silent bystanders,” it said.

“The great escape of Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, and dozens others accused of banking and other frauds is a case in point. Patent and latent complicity at the highest echelons of power is writ large,” the Congress added.

India, Iran sign nine agreements, agree to stop terror forces

India and Iran on Saturday pledged to stop the forces of terrorism and extremism, delinking it from religion and agreed that there should be an end to terror sanctuaries even as the two countries broad-based their relationship by signing nine agreements, including one on connectivity relating to the strategic Chabahar port.

Reflecting the deepening of ties between the two countries, visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who held one-on-one and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said energy and transportation were two great potentials for building strategic cooperation between Iran and India.

In his remarks at a joint press conference with his guest, Modi spoke of the Sufi links between the two countries and the determination to tackle terror.

“People of both India and Iran believe in peace and tolerance drawing from the values of Sufi philosophy. Taking into account our mutual benefits, we are both committed to stop the forces of terrorism, extremism, illegal drug trafficking, cyber crime and other international crimes,” Modi said.

Rouhani described terrorism as a problem not only for the entire region but for the whole world saying: “We must fight the roots of terrorism which are mainly intellectual and cultural stemming from promoting extremist, violent ideas and we are ready to cooperate with friendly countries, including India, in this field.”

He said relations between India and Iran were “not detrimental to any country and there are vast opportunities and potentials to deepen ties between the two countries that must be taken the best advantage of to contribute to a better future for the two nations and the region”.

A joint statement issued after the talks said the two leaders welcomed the growing interaction between their National Security Councils and agreed to enhance regular and institutionalised consultations between them and others concerned on terrorism, security and related issues such as organised crime, money-laundering, drug trafficking and cyber crime.

According to Deepak Mittal, Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran), the two sides shared their concern over terrorism and agreed that this global menace cannot be linked to any religion.

“The two sides discussed both the regional and international situation,” Mittal said while briefing the media after the talks.

“There was a unanimity between both sides that terrorism needs to be condemned and there should be an end to sanctuaries for terrorism,” he said.

Modi congratulated Rouhani for his leadership in the development of the “golden gateway” of Chabahar port in Iran that has boosted connectivity to landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.

Rouhani said Chabahar port, as a bridge connecting India to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Eastern Europe can further strengthen historical ties between the two countries and the entire region.

“Transit ties between the two countries will create multilateral and regional potentials with the countries of the region and we are ready to have trilateral and multilateral agreements to turn the transit route from Chabahar into a strategic route for regional relations,” he said.

Stressing that Iran can supply India’s energy needs within the framework of long-term strategic contracts, the Iranian President said: “These long-term contracts in the fields of energy and transportation will make the two countries strategic and trustful partners.”

During Modi’s visit to Tehran in 2016, India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a trilateral agreement to jointly develop the Chabahar port. The first phase of the port became operational in December last when the first consignment of wheat from India to Afghanistan was sent through it, bypassing Pakistan.

Among the agreements signed on Saturday, one was a lease contract between Port and Maritime Organisation (PMO), Iran and India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) which envisages IPGL taking over the operations of a part of the area of the multipurpose and container terminal for a period of 18 months.

Modi assured India’s support for the development of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway line to harness the full potential of the Chabahar port.

Apart from the one on connectivity, the other agreements signed included double taxation avoidance, an instrument of ratification that that brings into effect the extradition agreement that the two sides had signed in 2008 and cooperation in the areas of health, traditional systems of medicine and agriculture and allied sectors and establishment of an expert group on trade remedy measures.

In his address, Modi said that both India and Iran want to see their close neighbour Afghanistan as a “peaceful, secure, stable, prosperous and pluralistic country”.

“We want to see our region and the world free of terrorism,” he said.

He also said that both sides wanted to increase cooperation in the areas of economy, connectivity and energy while strengthening the age-old cultural ties.

According to Mittal, the two sides discussed taking energy cooperation beyond the buyer-seller relationship.

Stating that a number of issues in this connection were discussed and some decisions taken, the Prime Minister said: “Whether it be tax or investment, effective banking channels or cooperation between trade bodies, we have taken several significant steps for the future.”

The agreement on avoidance of double taxation aims at promoting flow of investment and services between the two countries.

Modi said that the talks also focused on people-to-people exchange, while noting that this continues between the students and intellectuals of the two countries.

“We also discussed solutions to the problems faced by fishermen and seafarers,” he said

New Delhi, Feb 17: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is upset with Narendra Modi led central government over the Budget allocation to the state. He saidI have visited Delhi 29 times and met everyone several times. Still, justice has not been done.

He asserted even in the last budget, they did injustice to Andhra.

On behalf of 5 crore people of Andhra, I'm demanding Centre to do justice to the state. I'm ready for debate on how much other states got & how much we got. I'm demanding PM & Union Ministers to do justice to Andhra. I'm ready for any sacrifices for justice to Telugus: Andhra CM

On behalf of 5 crore people of Andhra, I’m demanding Centre to do justice to the state. I’m ready for debate on how much other states got & how much we got. I’m demanding the Prime MInister and Union Ministers to do justice to Andhra.

I’m ready for any sacrifices for justice to Telugus, he added.

The government has allocated Rs 1800 Crore to Andhra Pradesh in the budget 2018-19.